Dyer announces bid for circuit judge
Cecilia Dyer, attorney for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, Division of Children and Family Services, has announced her candidacy for Garland County circuit judge, Division 2, in the May 20 nonpartisan judicial general election.
Judge Vicki Cook has announced her intention to not seek re- election to the position.
“Other elected officials encouraged me to run because they know this judicial election is so important. It is important because what is at stake is the direction our juvenile court will take over the next several years. There is absolutely nothing more important than protecting our children and doing everything we can to preserve our families,” Dyer said.
“Every business day, I practice juvenile law and I know that the children and families who come before juvenile court are facing serious issues and deserve a judge with extensive knowledge and experience in the area of juvenile law; one who will listen, one who cares, and one who is fair,” she said.
For the past 22 years, Dyer has been an advocate for children and families in Garland County. Having spent 17 years in private practice, advocating primarily in the area of family law, and more than five years representing the Division of Children and Family Services in all matters pertaining to neglected and abused children brought before juvenile court by DHS, Dyer has a wide and varied base of legal knowledge and experience to bring to the position of circuit judge.
Dyer also stated that, in the last five years alone, as attorney for the Division of Children and Family Services, she has appeared in juvenile court for more than 2,000 hearings and has a thorough knowledge of juvenile court proceedings, the juvenile code, and the Child Maltreatment Act.
Dyer said her goal is to use her extensive legal experience to “help set the children and families who come before the court on a good, solid path and to protect the children and families of Garland County by administering swift, fair, and unbiased decisions well- grounded in the law.”
Dyer said her vision is to continue the great programs that are already working in the juvenile court arena and “seek new innovative programs and services to strengthen our children and families.”
She received her juris doctorate degree in 1990 from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983. She is currently a member of the Garland County Bar Association. For the past 22 years, she has been balancing duties and responsibilities of motherhood with duties of her profession.
In addition to her private law practice, she has served as deputy city attorney for the city of Hot Springs, coach of the Jessieville and Cutter Morning Star high schools mock trial teams, and is a past board member of Change Point and the Juvenile Justice Committee of the Arkansas Bar Association. She currently sits on the Juvenile Court Improvement Committee and the advisory board of the Cooper-Anthony Child Advocacy Center.
Dyer is deeply rooted in Arkansas tradition and values as her family has been in Garland County for more than 100 years. Her husband of 30 years, Kent Dyer, is the store manager of Walgreens on Central Avenue. They have a son, Brett, who is a sophomore at Cutter Morning Star High School, a daughter, Ashleigh, who is a junior at Arkansas State University, and a son, Scott, and daughter- in- law, Monica, who have a 7- month old child, Brennan.